Ri Un-chol went close to pulling one back for Korea DPR, who were reduced to 10 men late on, but the result was put beyond all doubt when Boualem Khoukhi headed in on the stroke of half-time.

Ali had his third – and the tournament's first hat-trick – 10 minutes after the interval, subtly nudging Afif's weighted throughball past the onrushing Ri Myong-guk to overtake Iran's Sardar Azmoun as the 2019 Asian Cup's leading scorer.

Qatar did not let up though, piling further humiliation on Korea DPR as Afif and Ali again combined for the latter to drill in his fourth on the hour, with the woodwork denying the striker another goal moments later before left-back Abdelkarim Hassan made it six at the culmination of a surging run.

Matters were made worse for Korea DPR in the 90th minute, Jong Il-gwan receiving his second yellow card for a reckless lunge on Khoukhi.

Felix Sanchez's side now top Group E and a point against already-qualified Saudi Arabia will see them secure pole position.